Through the Veil
by mockinjay771995
Summary: I'm not normal. I'm a witch. But there's more to my abnormality than that, I'm the Daughter of the Boy-Who-Lived, and I go to a school that teaches magic. I know how to ride a broom, and cast spells and brew potions. But strangest of all, I can see and speak to the dead.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Dreams

Lily's POV

 _I was once again in those woods. Once again surrounded by large barren trees blocking almost all of the moonlight, except for a few feeble wisps of pale blue light casting patches onto the forest floor. Every step I took was reported by the crackling of dead leaves and the occasional heart stopping crack of a twig breaking._

 _I was well aware that I was a trespasser, that this was a world that I was merely invading and that I didn't know enough about. Everything about this place screamed of hidden danger. The shadows were denser then they should've been, and they seemed to swirl and twist into the most sinister shapes that melted and changed again before I could ever get a good look. The wind sounded like hushed whispers and felt like cold breath on the back of my neck. Suddenly the thin, snaking, path I was traveling turned a sudden bend and as I turned the corner I stopped before a small figure blocking my way._

 _The girl was probably no older than ten with pale skin, lighter than the feeble moonlight, Her blonde hair was pulled into braids on either side of her face, her eyes were shockingly blue and the white robes she wore shimmered like a light shroud around her._

" _You've returned again." The younger girl said in a voice barley louder than the whispering wind in the trees. "I really don't have a choice, do I?" My own voice echoed unnaturally in the darkness around us. She simply smiled sadly, "Of course you have a choice, you just don't know it." I couldn't help rolling my eyes. "Obviously," I muttered. The girl inclined her head slightly to the side as though considering something. "You are different from other visitors, do you know that?"_

" _How so?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact the wind was gradually growing louder. "You're not afraid of what lies beyond the trees." She said motioning to dark depths of the forests. "Why should I be?" I answered with a hesitant shrug, "It's just shadows." The girl studied me for a second then nodded. "Right, shadows." That's all she managed to say before the wind swelled to a roar that shook the ground beneath my feet._

 _Then the world turned itself on end and I was hurled toward the sky. Jagged branches cut into my skin as I plummeted toward the pitch black abyss._

I shot up in bed and just managed to bite down on my scream. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself but I ended up hyperventilating for a few minutes. When I did calm myself down I looked down at my arms and saw cut and marks littered across my skin.

"Damn," I quietly cursed to my darkened bedroom.

Before you read any further there's something I have to explain about myself. I'm not normal. I'm a witch. But there's more to my abnormality than that, I'm the Daughter of the Boy-Who-Lived, and I go to a school that teaches magic. I know how to ride a broom, and cast spells and brew potions. But strangest of all, I can see and speak to the dead.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Forest

?'s POV

Shadows scuttled away from me as walked passed, and I couldn't keep the smug smile off my face because of it. To outsiders these dark masses were something to fear immensely.

 _To all but one,_ a voice hissed in the back of my head. My smile became a frown. The prophecy stated one who didn't fear the demons that dwell these woods would be my downfall.

But that girl wasn't special, she was ignorant. The prophecy spoke of someone else, that was all there was to it.

The lone call of a raven sounded louder than the whispering wind. I halted in my pensive wanderings to allow the inky black bird to land on my shoulder.

"Oh, you know what troubles me, don't you?" I cooed to the bird. I abruptly continued my trek and the bird shrieked in protest but otherwise remained still and silent.

"The prophecy weighs heavy on my mind, Erebus. That bloody girl doesn't fear the forest, now why is that?" My question was answered by stony silence.

"I seriously doubt her worth, but I must be sure, for I can't overlook any possible adversary, for there are so few." Once again silence.

My lips twisted into another smile, a wicked twisted smile that was more like a primal animal grimace.

"We'll show her what real fear is, Erebus, then we'll see if she must be destroyed." And then a laugh escaped me, reminiscent of another creature, ancient, evil, blood thirsty.

Startled Erebus took flight from my shoulder and disappeared into the boundless sky.

"I will not be defeated." I promised to the restless shadows around me.

And with every fiber of my being, I meant it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Old Coots and Curses

Lily's POV

London was a tourist hotspot. People came from far and wide to visit it all year long. However, the area of London in which I live in isn't the most….. touristy area.

Number Twelve Grimmuald Place was situated in a rather tough district. James, Albus, and I have simply accepted that we just have to be good at protecting ourselves. For the most part we are, but that day was different. What I was up against was very different from the usual ruffians….

I was only about three blocks from my home when I first spotted the strange old man. He was sitting in the shadowy stoop of a dilapidated old tenement building, muttering to himself. He caught my eye as I passed and he gave me a toothless grin, I offered a hesitant smile of my own and then I continued on. I didn't sense that anything was off until I turned the next corner and saw the same man leaning against a street lamp, watching me.

I was sure it was the same guy. He wore the same ragged grey coat and slacks, he had the same wrinkled almost molted face, the same coal black eyes, the same shocks of stringy white hair.

I paused for the briefest of seconds, then I turned on my heels and walked back the way I had come at a much faster pace.

I was a few streets from home when I stopped to pull myself together. I leaned against a grimy brick building and tried to make sense of what had happened. I also mentally chided myself for running. I was a Gryffindor after all, in my fourth year, what was I running from.

I wanted to distract myself from these thoughts so I turned my attention to the street I was on. The buildings were all very small, cramped, and close to disrepair. There were no pedestrians but myself on the trash strewn sidewalk. No cars drove by.

"Meyers." I told myself, it was the roughest street around. I began to walk rather fast again, "If I cut down the alley between the two warehouses I'll end up on Church, then I'll be home in less than ten minutes." I planned out loud.

I came onto the alley and went to turn into it but I slammed into a solid figure lurking around the corner.

The old man's face was a mere foot from mine even after I stumbled back in shock.

"Why hello, love." He said, his voice raspy like gravel. After a fearful pause, I held my head up, "Excuse me." Sidestepping him. I was surprised when he let me pass. I was just starting to pick up the pace again when I was forcefully slammed against the alley wall. I felt my head bash off the brick and stars danced in front of my eyes.

I blinked away the haze and found the man's face so close to mine I could feel his halting breath.

His mangled hand was clasped tightly around my throat.

"Tell me what you know!" He demanded angrily.

"I don't know anything!" I managed to choke out. His faced began to redden in rage, "Do I look stupid?" He hissed. I would've said yes if his hand wasn't completely cutting off my windpipe.

Angered by my silence he shook me violently, but he stopped abruptly when we both heard a clatter on the cracked pavement. I looked down and spied my wand lying on the ground.

In a moment of desperation and adrenaline I kicked out my leg and caught him in the soft spot between the legs. His grip loosened a hair, and I managed to struggle free. I dove for my wand, and when I felt the familiar object in my hand I acted. I twisted on the ground to see the man lumbering towards me. I pointed my wand at his face and shouted, "Stupify!" There was a bang and a flash of red light and the man crumbled.

All was silent.

I got shakily to my feet and took a hesitant step towards the man, but before I got any closer his limp form dissolved into shadows on the concrete. The shadows began to slink off towards the other end of the ally. In a split second decision I followed. The shadows gained speed and soon I was sprinting down strange streets and alleys pushing and shoving passed other people on the streets trying to keep the mysterious objects in my sight.

I turned a last corner in time to see them slip underneath a broken telephone booth.

I stopped to catch my breath clutching a stitch on my side, when a hand came down on my shoulder and another covered my mouth, blocking my scream….


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** **First of all thank you so much to everyone that's reviewed and favorited and are reading, it means so much to me. Now here's some background information on the characters just to avoid confusion later on.**

 **Lily, James, and Albus live with Harry and Ginny on Grimmauld Place.**

 **James is seventeen, Albus is sixteen, and Lily is fourteen.**

 **The story takes place during the summer before their 7** **th** **,6** **th** **, and 4** **th** **years at Hogwarts.**

 **Lily is the only one in the family with the ability to communicate with the dead**

 **That's really it. If you have a question about something PM me or review and I'll answer it.**

 **Now to the chapter…**

Chapter 4: Brothers and Bad Omens.

Startled, I threw my elbow back into whoever was behind me. My attack was followed by a grunt of pain and a too familiar voice, "Bloody hell Lily, what was that for?"

"James, please never do that again." I wasn't angry though, I was too busy being relieved. He smirked at me. "Mum and Dad wanted me to go looking for you, you're late."

When I looked at my watch it was 4:05, five minutes passed curfew.

I threw James a look, "I'm five minutes late and they send a search party?" James just shrugged. "You know how they are. They probably thought you joined a cult or something." I just rolled my eyes and punched his arm.

"Very funny." I went to walk around him but he put his arm out, blocking me. When I looked up at him questioningly he had a strange expression on his face. "Why are you hanging out around the entrance to the Ministry?"

I spun around to look at the derelict network of alleys and old abandoned buildings, the broken phone booth should've been the giveaway. Sure enough, I recognized the place as the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

I plastered an innocent look over my surprise. "Just looking." I told James, I tried to step around him again and this time he let me pass. "How'd you find me anyway?" I asked him. "I saw you shooting down the street and I followed, what were you chasing after anyway?" I didn't bother answering. We headed home in silence.

I ignored the conversation at the dinner table that night. I just stared into my pasta dish and tried to think of a casual way to pose my question, when I came up with none I decided to be blunt.

"Dad, are there any dark wizards that can change form?" Everyone stopped talking almost at once, I'm guessing my question was extremely off topic by the looks I was getting.

"Change appearance? Like Teddy?" Mum asked me, an unreadable expression on her face. I shook my head. "No it's more than just appearance, it's like they change what they are, what they're made of. Does that make any sense?"

More silence. I was beginning to feel rather foolish when finally Dad spoke up. "I can't say I've ever heard of such magic, but I'm sure it's possible. Magic is limitless, dark magic especially."

"Does this have anything to do with you hanging around the Ministry today?"

"James!" I hissed indignantly. He glanced sideways at our parents and mouth, Sorry.

Before I could get yelled at Albus helped me by making it worse. "Is it because of the dream you had the other night?" I kicked him underneath the table.

"You're having the dreams again?" Dad's face was neutral but his voice wasn't very steady. "Have you tried Occlumency again?" Mum's face and voice said she didn't like this news.

I shook my head again, "Occlumency doesn't work. Besides I'm not good at it anyway. The spirits don't go through my thoughts they just….I don't know, it's different."

"Well, they were leaving you alone. Why do they want you again?" I just shrugged off Albus' question.

My mind strayed to the old man and what he had said, I decided to keep that to myself. My family was worried and confused enough as it is.

"I promise you all it's nothing. Everything's perfectly normal." I didn't realize it at the time but that was the biggest lie I've ever told.

I stood up from the table, "I have homework."

I was halfway up the stairs before any could do anything.

Going to bed and waking up in that now familiar clearing in the woods was a very bad omen in my opinion. When I got to my feet I noticed for the first time that the little girl was also in the clearing instead of up the path like every other time.

"Hello Lily, back so soon?" The girl was shooting for genial and failed. "Who are you? How do you keep pulling me back here? What do you want with me?" I tried to keep my voice calm but it shook violently with rage. I wanted-no, I needed answers.

The girl approached me slowly and talked quietly like she was calming a wild animal. "My name is Angel and I summoned you here for a very important reason.."

"Why didn't you tell me all this last time? Why can't you people leave me alone?" I burst out.

"Because what fun is that?" the voice was a whisper that didn't come from me or Angel. It seemed to come from everywhere all at once.

"I like to play with visitors, see what they're made of. See what makes them squirm. You've been particularly tricky to mess with, but I think I've found a way." There was a pause in the voice in which I could feel my heart beating in my chest. "You should go back, they'll be needing you." Once again I was thrown into the bottomless sky.

I woke up with a start. But this time something was different. I could feel something strange in the air of my bedroom . I went to my window and I was about to throw it open when I spotted something strange being reflected by the glass, a fain golden haze.

I turned to face the wall behind me and I realized that the haze was words being formed. Acting quickly I grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote down what I saw. The second I finished the words shimmered and vanished.

I stood there shocked and very confused for a long moment before I finally turned my attention to the parchment, hoping for some answers. I didn't get them. I had written down several sentences, they read,

 _ **Find the Great Divide, and cross it when the stone peaks.**_

 _ **Find the Master of the Lost Souls, the master who disguises themselves.**_

 _ **Slay the liar or lose a life in the process.**_

 _ **Your ally of light will guide you but lose you along the way.**_

 _ **Look inside yourself before entering the Field Of Bones, because a sacrifice must be made to escape the Land of the Dead**_

In my hand I held some twisted version of a prophecy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Meetings and Monsters

?'s POV

The dark mass slipped out of the tree line and halted at my feet. I waited a moment while he materialized into his solid form. A sorry looking old man who failed to scare the child.

"Is it done?" I asked him harshly. He smiled that horrible toothless smile and my lip curled in disgust. "Yes, the deed is done, the prophecy was a delivered." He bowed his head slightly as he said this, obviously relieved at bringing me good news, I nodded my slight approval.

"And does the girl have any idea what the prophecy means?" I turned my back on the man and began to walk the hardly traveled road to the cliffs. I heard him stumble and follow after me. "No nothing at all." He assured me quickly. I nodded again.

"As long as she misses the deadline then she's no problem to me." The declaration was more a comfort to me than anything else, it seemed to agitate the man though. "An-and what if she does make the deadline, then what will you do?" I simply motioned to the blurry outline of the high cliffs appearing out of the gloom, over the treetops.

"I have my ways of dealing with trespassers, don't you worry."

As if to make itself know a ground shaking roar rolled over us. Coming from the direction of the jagged cliff face.

Yes this whole problem will be resolved soon enough whether the end be messy or not.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Prophecy and Plans

Lily's POV

I threw the large leather bound volume to the floor with a loud thud.

"We've been here for four hours," James complained from his spot in the chair by the window. Albus remained silent but he stared halfheartedly at the teetering stacks of books on either side of him.

Of course I had told my brothers about the prophecy. With them as nosy as they were, it was easier to just tell them and ask for help than for them to figure out and get miffed at me later on.

Besides I would've given up long ago on the research if they weren't there.

It was the morning after the prophecy had been delivered to me and we were searching through every book in the house for any mention of "The Great Divide" or "the Stone" as the prophecy had said. So far nothing. At all.

"Why can't the wizarding world have Google?!" I groaned, flopping off the chair and landing cross-legged on the floor.

"I don't know but muggles have got it made. They don't have to sift through books older than their grandparents." James muttered, leafing through yet another thick, dusty book.

"We should narrow our search down." That was the first thing Albus had said in the last hour, and admittedly it was a good idea. "Okay so how do we narrow it down?" I asked the room at large. At first there was just pensive silence. Then (surprisingly) James spoke up first. "Well let's focus on one thing at a time. What could the "Great Divide" be?"

"Wizards used to be divided by how pure their blood was." Albus offered. James shook his head, "That's old news. It's not very common anymore, is it?"

"That's true but we don't know how old the prophecy is, it could've been made when Voldemort was at large." Albus countered back.

"The prophecy was written weird don't you think?" I asked vaguely, letting my thoughts wander, trying to subconsciously connect the dots.

James and Albus looked at me like I should be locked up in a padded room. I ignored them and dug the piece of parchment out of my jean pocket and read the first line aloud, "Find the Great Divide, and cross it when the Stone peaks." I looked at the boys expectantly, they looked back, lost.

"Great Divide is capitalized like a proper noun, like a specific thing. It also says 'cross'. We must have to find the actual Great Divide. But how are we supposed to do that?"

"Well let's look at the background information." Albus said quietly. "We're dealing with spirits, aren't we? So to them, what would the Great Divide be?" I thought for a second, "A divide between our world and there's probably." I answered, slightly unsure.

There was another beat of silence in which James and Albus stared at me again. "What?" I finally demanded, exasperated.

"Well you obviously know more about this…..Spirit World….than either of us." James told me, I spread my hands in a _so?_ gesture.

James rolled his eyes. "Do you have any idea what the Great Divide would be to them?"

I shook my head. "Angel, the spirit girl, she says she summons me when she needs me. I don't know what's between the worlds." I hesitated for a second. "Do you think it's in the Ministry?"

I expected them to laugh but they didn't. They looked at each other and back to me.

"You know that's a possibility. They would be in charge of monitoring something like that. Is that why you were hanging out by the Ministry." Albus asked me. I nodded, but I wasn't about to give them the whole story. Not yet anyway.

"We can't break into the Ministry." Albus said, being realistic. James and I nodded our agreement. "But we can figure out if there's anything there like the Divide." I said, making sure they weren't backing out.

"How?" James asked. "We can't ask Mum or Dad they'd be really suspicious."

"No, we can't ask them. We need to ask someone we can talk around. Someone we can trick .Someone else who works or knows something about the Ministry. " I smiled, the perfect person in mind.

Seeing my smile Albus looked reluctant to ask the question, "Who?"

I smiled wider, "Uncle Ron."

We were in luck. That night Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Rose, and Hugo all came over for dinner.

I already knew getting the information would be easy. However getting Ron alone, and making sure he didn't say anything to Hermione would be the problem. She would see right through one of our acts.

Our plan was pretty complicated and leaned on a lot of ifs and assumptions but it was the best we could do. We should get the information and come out clean.

Just when we were all seated for dinner, James aimed a well-chosen spell at the large pot on the stove. It exploded with a satisfying bang and a shower of hot stew that coated the room.

We all fled from the kitchen and into the living room. James tried to poorly conceal his wand, and as predicted Mum saw it. "Well since you thought it was necessary to blow dinner up, you can clean it. Without magic."

James pretended to look indignant, "C'mon Mum-" She shot him a dangerous look. He sighed in defeat and left the room. Albus shot me a look and I smiled. "You two can join him." Mum told us, after watching our exchange. We were about to leave the room as well when Ron spoke up, "I'll help 'em." And with that he joined us.

Just as we had planned, we knew Ron would leave the room with us to laugh with James about the exploding pot. Adults were extremely predictable.

I let Ron enter the bathroom to grab a towel. As Ron passed James slipped Ron's wand out of the pocket of his robes. I went into the bathroom after Ron and closed the door behind us, I heard Albus click the lock into place.

Ron brushed passed me to leave the bathroom. But he gave a sound of surprise to find the door locked. "They must've locked us in." I told him, trying to sound angry. "Can we call for help?" Ron asked me. Not at all distressed. I shook my head, "No they would've put the silencing charm on the door. Can I ask you something?" I asked, not wasting a second. "Sure…" My uncle said, completely unsure. "What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen at the Ministry?"

He stared at me for a long moment. "Anything in the Department of Mysteries." I didn't want to press and make him suspicious, but that was too vague. "Yes but anything in particular, anything otherworldly?" He watched me for a long time again.

"There was this one thing, the Veil I think it was called. There were whispering voices behind it, voices of people that weren't there. Pretty otherworldly to me. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged and tried to look innocent. "Just curious."

As an afterthought I reluctantly added, "Can you not mention that question to anyone, they'd think I was foolish, or planning something." He stared at me longer than ever.

"My lips are sealed." He said finally. I audibly sighed in relief.

After Albus let Ron and me out of the bathroom I had no choice but to help the boys clean the kitchen. They talked but I didn't keep up with the conversation at all. One very important thing was on my mind.

If what we needed was in the Department of Mysteries, what choice did we have?

We had to figure out the rest of the prophecy. And then we had to break into the Ministry of Magic…


	7. Chapter 7

**I know, I know. I haven't updated in like 5 days, probably more. Well I wanted this chapter to be really good, because in all honesty I didn't like the last chapter much at all. So I wanted this one to be special. Which is also the reason for the switched POV. Also, I want to know if you guys like the idea of switched POVs or if I should just stick with Lily. Let me know.**

 **-Mockingjay**

Chapter 7: The Stone

Albus' POV

There we were again. Searching through books, or anything else we could find for the elusive "Stone" of the prophecy. And despite our earlier euphoria we were beginning to think our discovery of the Veil wasn't a very big victory. The terms in which we had discovered the information however had us uneasy.

"Your acting skills need work Lily, he was beyond suspicious about the questions you were asking." James put down the book he was leafing through to bring up that topic once again.

Lily, who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor staring blankly at the fireplace, shot James an angry glare. Then her look softened and she shook her head and turned back towards the fireplace. "It doesn't matter," she said, barely loud enough for us to hear. "We got the information we needed."

But James wouldn't relent. "We don't know if he was telling the truth. He could've lied to us. We've been searching for twice as long as last time and we haven't found a single mention of the Veil." I cut in before Lily could give a heated response. "Ron said the Veil was in the Department of Mysteries. No one's supposed to know about anything in there except the Unspeakables. It makes sense that we haven't found anything about it."

When neither of them said anything I rolled my eyes and stretched my legs out in front of me, and accidently knocked over a stack of large books. Cursing under my breath, I began to restack them. However I paused when I saw the title of the book in my hand. An idea slowly formed in the back of my head, I acted on the vague notion. "Hey, Lily?" After a second's pause she looked over at me. "Yeah?" I looked to the book again to gather my thoughts. "Are there muggles in the Spirit World?"

She seemed to think hard for a moment. Then she nodded slightly. "I think so, I remember once Angel told me the part of the Spirit World I visit is home to the spirits and souls that have nowhere else to go. The Land of the Lost Souls, the place is called. That would include muggles and wizards alike, I would think." She said all this slowly, thinking as she spoke. "Why?"

I lifted the book so Lily and James could see. The title said: **The Moon: Our Earth's Rock** , it was a muggle science book. "'Our Earth's Rock' Or Stone," I said, I saw the realization dawn on both of their faces. With a wide smile Lily paraphrased the prophecy. "Find the Veil, and cross it when the Moon peaks?" I nodded. "That must mean a full moon, or a new moon." James said suddenly all doubt gone. Lily snorted a laugh. "Of course it's a full moon, it is a ghost story after all."

Once again our happiness faded quickly, how we were supposed to that was a mystery in itself.

I saw Lily and James exchange a look. The meaning of their glance was very clear.

"NO!" I practically yelled.

"What?" Lily asked me, putting on her most innocent look. I shook my head, "No." I repeated.

James was a bit more blunt. "C'mon Albus, it's our only choice."

"We are not breaking into the Ministry." The words came out almost as a plea. We were blanketed in silence. Now that the words were out in the open the task seemed harder, and somehow more illegal than it had in my head.

"We'd plan really carefully, Albus. We won't get caught." Lily's eyes were just as pleading as my words but I wasn't giving in easily. "You don't know that. We can't plan perfectly. There's always a chance something could go wrong." It was at that moment I realized I was the only sane one out of my siblings.

"Do you have another plan?" James asked me.

"No, but we can think of a better one." I hissed. James stood up and left the room, his voice carried in from the hall. "Well according to Dad's Lunar Calendar you have three days until the next full moon to think of a plan. If you can't we're breaking into the Ministry."

James returned to his original place in the room. Lily's gaze searched mine. "We have to Albus, and you know it too."

I slumped on the floor, defeated. "How come every time I agree to help you guys with something it ends up being illegal."

I couldn't see James and Lily but I knew they were smiling.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Rage

?'s POV

I stalked along the path like a raging lion, my fury burning small and already desolate plants along at my feet. The closer I got to the treacherous home of the beast the more steely my intentions became. Those brats were figuring out the prophecy, and they were going to pay dearly for it.

The cliffs drew steadily nearer and the walk made my thoughts wander, eventually I ended up fantasizing about the job the beast had for our little detectives, and I found myself wishing it was me who would get to finish those bloody kids off….

The beast lived in a large cave, a gaping hole in the cliff face. The inside was dark, and the walls were moist with both water and the remains of whatever unfortunate soul was dumb enough to face this monster head on. When I stood at the mouth of the cave I saw nothing of the horror that lay within all I heard was the loud breathing. A hot wave of breath rolled over me that smelled strongly of death and decay. I held my head high, this _thing_ didn't scare me.

"Come." I gave my order calmly though my thoughts and intentions were anything but.

Heeding my command I felt the monster rise and approach, it stopped and all I could still make out of it was two large reptilian eyes, glowing with malice.

"I have decided to treat you. In three days' time, if they succeed, a small group will trespass into our world." The creature remained silent, breathing heavily, blinking slowly. I continued, "It is your job to destroy them, in any way necessary. The more painful and drawn out the better." More tense silence. I took several steps into the darkness of the cave and the large monster backtracked in fear. A triumphant smile graced my lips again. Nothing in this world scared me. Everything in this was scared _of_ me.

"If you fail….You'll have to answer to me."

I turned on my heel and left, now all there was left to do was wait for this all to be over.

Wait for my chance.

 _Three days_ , I reminded myself. _In three days the Spirit World and Mortal World will kneel before me, I will rule all._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: B & E

Lily's POV

The three days before the full moon passed unnaturally quick. Maybe it was because James, Albus, and I were extremely busy, you know with the whole planning -to-break-into-the-most-heavily-guarded-magical-institution-in-Britian-thing. It may also have been because I was very, very anxious about it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to breaking the rules, I'm also very familiar with getting away with it, however this was significantly more risky than unauthorized midnight Quidditch games, or brother hexing.

Luckily it wasn't just me planning this crime, I had experienced pranksters on my side.

We spent those whole three days putting together what was probably the most simple plan ever conceived for this kind of thing. I'm going to note right here though that, more or less, that plan worked.

….

James had figured out that the moon would 'peak' at 12:23 in the morning. Since we only had a minute to get through the divide we decided to head to the Ministry as soon as possible. At 10:30 that night the boys met me on the stoop of our house. "All clear?" I asked in a low whisper. They nodded. And with that we were off.

Since James was seventeen and legally allowed to, he would apparate into the Ministry. Albus would use the fireplace. And I was going in through the visitor's entrance.

After the fall of Voldemort, Ministry workers tracked who went in and out of the Ministry through each entrance. Since all three of us were going into the Ministry ten minutes apart we were counting on the fact that the sheer immense amount of people going in and out in those ten minute breaks would bury the fact that we were there at all.

I'm assuming that the plan worked without a hitch because the boys met me in the atrium as we had agreed. All three of us gathered into a lift and it began to sink. We descended three floors before our lift stopped.

I was still too jittery to notice what floor we were stopped on, which was pretty bad seeing as how a reasonable size crowd boarded our lift. And among them I spotted the busy brown hair of Aunt Hermione.

"Why didn't we think of a cover-up story in case someone caught us?!" Albus hissed in my ear. His eyes were wide, he obviously saw the danger as well. James grabbed both Albus and me by the wrist and pulled us down so we were slightly hunched over.

"Our plan will still work fine as long as she doesn't see us. We'll get off at the next stop just to be safe." Albus and I nodded our agreement to James. The lift groaned faintly as it started up once again.

My brothers and I stayed hunched over mostly out of sight. However that didn't stop me from praying that Hermione wouldn't suddenly look around and spot my red hair, or James who kept twirling his wand nervously between his fingers, or Albus who seemed to be having a private panic attack.

An agonizingly long five minutes later the lift lurched to a stop and the gate clamored open. We scrambled out of there as calmly as we could. It wasn't until I heard a faint "Dammit" from James that I noticed we had gotten out at the Auror Department. And just to make matters worse, less than a hundred feet away stood Dad and Minister Kingsley.

I cast a frantic look around for an exit, I didn't see one. _Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…._

"Dad must've came back after he thought we were in bed." James whispered, he sounded pretty deflated. "Why didn't we check their bedroom before we left?" Albus sounded straight-out resigned to his fate.

My nerves were spiked, but I took a deep breath, and gave both of my brothers a hard whack on the back of the head. They threw me reproachful looks but I grabbed them and dragged them with me. I wasn't one hundred percent sure where I was going, but I knew we needed to get somewhere at least slightly hidden. So far, like in the lift, the only thing that had kept us from being spotted was the sheer amount of people bustling around everywhere. Dozens of people brushed passed us without a second glance.

We huddled in a corner slightly apart from the general crowd. "Time check." I whispered, keeping one eye out for anyone who would recognize us. "Eleven." James mumbled beside me. "We've already had two very close calls. We need to be a lot more careful." Albus said softly. James opened his mouth but I cut him off. "Albus is right. We have time. We'll take detours, longer routes, it doesn't matter. But we won't get caught." I received two curt nods in response.

Once again we used the people for cover to slip to the bank of lifts. The next 45 minutes was spent in a shaky lift-swearing and arguing to loud that I can't believe we actually made it to the Department of Mysteries.

It took another thirty minutes for us to navigate the dozens of doors constantly circling in the first chamber. We finally stumbled into the cavernous room with a large stone arch. "I'm think I'm gonna vomit." James groaned, leaning against the stone arch. He reached behind him, probably for his wand, suddenly he jerked back like he had been shocked. "Merlin! That's freezing!" He shouted.

I slowly approached the arch, and my eyes picked up a faint shimmering light. "The Veil" I whispered. "The Veil!" I shouted, "It's here. We did it." James and Albus both approached slowly, wide eyed.

"Time check?" I asked, breathless with excitement.

"10:13" James replied, a wide smile on his face.

"Ten minutes," I whispered. "Ten minutes to go."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Through the Veil

Lily's POV

The ten minutes waiting for the moon to peak were longer than the last three days. We paced nervously, jumped at small noises, and checked our watches every thirty seconds. I also kept a keen ear on the whispering voices of the Veil. Every now and then I could make out a name or parts of a sentence but it mostly just sounded like radio static.

When there was still about three minutes left Albus made a very uneasy point, "What if this isn't the Great Divide we were supposed to find?" I let that possibility sink in for a second. "This is it, I'm sure of it." I said finally. In all honesty, I wasn't one-hundred percent sure. But I wasn't about to tell them that.

Two minutes to go and the sound of footsteps outside the chamber made my pulse pound. They drew steadily nearer…Then paused at the door. My brothers and I held our breath. Our hearts beating in terrified harmony. The steps continued on and slowly faded. We all let out a sigh, relieved. I checked my watch. One minute to go.

"Listen, guys…" I started, hesitantly. "I don't think it's a good idea that you go with me." I was met with two bewildered faces.

"Do you really think that after all this we're not going with you?" James asked. I sighed, I had anticipated a fight. "It's just that, we have no idea what'll be waiting for us when we get there. What if someone gets hurt?" I pleaded with them.

"What are we supposed to do?" Albus countered, "Just sit here and wait to be caught. We're going with you, and that's that."

Before I could argue with them further the Veil began to emit a glowing silvery light. The whispering voices grew louder, so that the noise shook the room to its foundation.

I looked at James and Albus, they looked back, their faces steady and calm.

 _Ready?_ I mouthed. Two nods. I took a deep breath, approached the Veil, hesitated for just a second, then I stepped through.

….

The sensation of traveling between worlds is hard to describe; it's like being thrown into the world's coldest volcano. Blood boiling heat and mind numbing cold made the second that I spent suspended between dimensions seem like an eternity. Then it all came crashing down.

My feet hit dirt, hard. My knees buckled and I toppled over, and rolled down a slight incline.

When I finally stopped rolling I was lying in a pile of brown, dead pine needles. I groaned as I sat up. "Everyone okay?" I called. "Fine…" James sounded off from roughly ten feet off to my left. "I'm good." Albus was at the top of the incline. We all stood up, brushed off and regrouped.

For a full minute we stood gaping at the world we had entered. The Arch we had come through was made of twisted oak branches. It was still glowing silver, like the moon. We were surrounded by dark thick woods, their leaves almost completely blocked out the real moon light. Just like in my dreams the shadows were dense, liquidy, and restless. They darted around and whispered in several languages, they all sounded ancient and harsh. However, unlike my dreams, I wasn't familiar with the area we were in.

"Okay," James said after several long, silent minutes. "What do we do now?"

 _Right,_ I thought, _the prophecy._ I reached into the pocket of my jeans, looking for the prophecy. I finally pulled out the crumpled piece of parchment, "Okay," I said skimming the passage, "Well, we already did the first line. So we should move onto the second-" Before I could finish talking a heart stopping roar shook the ground so much the few stars I could see in the sky seemed to quiver.

In the distance I could vaguely make out a jagged cliff face. From a yawning cave a dark mass slinked out.

I pulled out my wand. The others followed suit. "This seems wrong, we should-" James turned and gasped. I turned too, the Arch was no longer glowing. We stood there standing in stunned silence. Our only way out of this place was closed.

The mystery monster roared again, louder, closer. The shadows around us shot off in the opposite direction of the cliffs. I spun on the spot, trying to see where they were going, but it was pointless, they blended into the darkness and disappeared.

There was a crunching sound behind me, before I could turn I felt hot breath on my back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the large foot of a dragon maybe five feet to my right, its long obsidian black claws clicking softly on the ground.

Finally, I turned. Slowly, deliberately, careful not to set the dragon off. When I was facing the dragon head-on, I saw something strange. It wasn't a dragon, at least not fully, its head was shorter, more snake-like than anything. Its wings weren't scaly but feather clad, like a crow's.

I took a baby-step back, and then another. I continued to back track, never taking my eyes off the strange creature. I was just starting to think that it wasn't going to attack when I stepped on a branch and it snapped. The calmness around the dragon-thing broke and it lunged forward.

I shot a stunning spell at it but the spell did nothing, it simply bounced off the beast's chest and ricocheted off into the trees.

"Stunning spells don't work!" I shouted. I heard a creative string of curses from both my brothers. The dragon unhinged its reptilian jaw and let out a jet of fire twenty feet long and emerald green. I hit the deck rolled and to avoid being barbequed. I stood up, the smell of burning wood and leaves mixing with the slimy smell of the dragon. A cloud passed over the moon and darkness took hold. I couldn't make out my brothers or the monster.

" _Lumos._ " I whispered. Instead of a little bulb of light on the tip of my wand a stream of white light shot into the sky, like a comet or a shooting star. I thought of the world we had entered, eternally dark…maybe…it's possible…light was our only weapon.

" _Lumos."_ I said again, this time aiming my wand and the dragon's long scaly neck. My spell hit its mark and the dragon careened dangerously on the spot, then the dragon straightened itself and roared again. Now a long burn could be seen angry, and red, on its neck.

Being struck had filled the monster with new rage and it fought back, with vigor. It moved swiftly, clasping James' jacket in its mouth and lifting him off his feet all in the space of a second. With a violent jerk of its head, the dragon flung my brother into darkness.

I didn't hear if James had called out or landed, I screamed the second I saw his feet leave the ground. I screamed again as the beast struck Albus hard with its feather wings, and he too disappeared.

The dragon then turned its ugly head to look at me, and with a quick swipe of its tail I was thrown probably close to sixty feet backwards. I hit the ground with enough force to derail a train, and I slid another ten feet along the ground. Suddenly I felt the earth give way underneath me and I frantically managed to grab hold of something before I fell.

I could see the sky clearer here and the moon provided enough light for me to see that I was holding onto a thin root of an ancient birch tree, dangling above a black abyss. I tried to climb back up but the rock was slippery, and wet, all my attempts were futile. Then my ears picked up the sound of crunching leaves, heavy breathing, and what sounded like something heavy being dragged across the ground.

I held my breath and waited for the noises to pass, instead they got gradually closer and then they stopped abruptly. A shadow blocked the moon, and I looked up only to meet the dragon's wide split-pupil yellow eyes. They were gleaming with malice.

I saw only one escape option. I whispered a quiet prayer, and with a vague wonder that those eyes would be the last thing I ever saw, I let go of the tree root. Seeing, what I had done the dragon made a mad swipe with its claw, but I had already fallen too far. An enraged roar erupted from the hybrid monster.

And then darkness consumed me.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Divided We Fall

James' POV

I pretty much knew I was screwed when my feet left the ground. I couldn't see exactly what the beast was doing, but I heard Lily screaming. Before I could really register anything else I was flying. Kind of.

I was actually crashing through treetops. I wasn't sure how far I had gone, but I couldn't even hear the dragon roaring now, which didn't seem like a good sign.

Then I blasted into some sort of stone wall and I crumpled onto the forest floor. I had landed in a small clearing. I heard a strange creaking and cracking sound. I turned behind me and saw that I had crashed into some sort of black stone pillar, and it was leaning like the Tower Of Pisa. The pillar creaked again sounding like a scream, and the whole thing toppled over and smashed into pieces.

For a few seconds the dragon and my siblings were driven out of my mind, shadows were starting to creep out of the tree line and gather around the rubble. They slowly rose from the ground to form dark shapeless masses. Then, like mist lifting, they began to take definitive shapes. They were Revolutionaries, red coats. They seemed to be skeletons with nothing but a skin layer over top. They were as pale as moonlight, with all black eyes, and their lips and fingers were a violent shade of blue. Their uniforms were in tatters and they still held muskets in their skeletal hands.

Then one of the skeletons turned its completely black eyes on me. "The boy destroyed our monument." With every syllable the skeleton spoke his jaw clacked together so he sounded more like, "-The-boy-des-tryoed-our-mon-u-ment." It was very unnerving. The other skeletons began making their way towards me, they moved surprisingly fast. For a split second I sat there, frozen. Then I jumped up when I realized my wand was still in my hand, (Thank Merlin I was able to hold onto it).

I shot several spells at the group of approaching skeletons but like the dragon they weren't even fazed. I tried to backtrack as they got closer but eventually they had me up against the tree line. Seeing no other option, I ducked into the trees and ran.

I just hoped the others were doing better than I was.

Albus' POV

I had landed in ice cold water. The impact knocked the wind out of me and I kicked to the surface where I took huge breaths of air. I was treading water in a wide lake, I could see a slender strip of rocky beach on my right side, but I couldn't see where it ended on the other side. The water was black as midnight and still as glass, even as I began to swim for shore the water remained impassive, as if holding its breath.

I was a good twenty feet from the beach of grey rocks and black volcanic sand when something seized my ankle and yanked me under. I gasped, taking in a mouthful of dark water which burned my throat and lungs unnaturally quick. I kicked and thrashed but I only sank deeper and deeper into the murky depths.

The pain in my chest was becoming unbearable; it was becoming harder to fight; my vision was going fuzzy, the water seemed to become brighter. Whatever had ahold of me let go, and I drifted upwards. My head broke the surface and I scrambled onto the shore. I collapsed on the dark sand, my entire body trembling. As I lay there I noticed that I was bone dry, almost as though I hadn't entered the water at all. I also saw that the rocks littering the shore were shattered tombstones, scattered in pieces amongst the sand. The lake itself was still undisturbed, still eerily calm, hiding some sort of horror in its depths.

Lily's POV

I woke slowly; consciousness flickered in and out like a dying candle. My eyelids were too heavy to open but I was aware of a dull aching that seemed to be in my very bones. I sat up slowly, ignoring the pain.

With a start I realized that I was lying in the clearing with the Arch. The twisted branches looked ghostly without the silvery light shining through it. I didn't even have time to be properly confused before another voice nearly gave me a heart attack.

"That was quite a fall." I whirled around to see a boy of about 16 leaning against a tree. He reminded me of Angel. His skin was pale, he had unnaturally blue eyes and was surrounded by a weak haze of light, his light brown hair was cut short. Unlike Angel though he was wearing a white t-shirt and pants, instead of robes.

He came to sit cross-legged on the ground, sitting in front of me.

"You saved me." I said softly. It wasn't a question, I knew. Though, I'm not sure how. He nodded. "I attempted to save your brothers as well. I'm not sure how well I did, though. We should go find them before they run into anything too unpleasant." He had an accent. American maybe, but it sounded slightly older.

He got to his feet and helped me to mine. "I believe this is yours." He said handing me my wand. "Wait." I called to him as he headed towards the trees. "Why did you save us?"

He smiled. "Because you and your brothers fought bravely."

"Is that all?"

"For now." He plunged into the dark forest and I hurried to catch up.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: United We Stand

Lily's POV

I hiked through the woods with this mysterious boy for a good ten minutes, and all he had told me was that his name was Seth.

"Well, Seth, I'm Li-" I started, but he cut me off.

"Lily Potter. Daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter. Youngest, two older brothers, only girl. You're also a witch, and you attend Hogwarts. Fourth year, correct?" I gaped for a minute then I nodded. "How did you know all that?" I spluttered slightly. He gave me a grim smile.

"The ways of our world are very complex and beyond true understanding. However, when I gave my word that I'd protect you I was provided with the information that would help me to do so." I tried to process this but it made my head hurt, "I'm still confused."

"Well, let me put it this way, I gave the Universe my word that I'd help you. And the Universe likes people to keep their word, so It gave me information about you that would allow me to not break my promise. Understand?" I nodded.

Another five minutes of silence. Broken only by my footsteps, his didn't make a sound. "So why did you promise to help me? There has to be more to it than us fighting the dragon." Seth turned to look at me. "You were given the prophecy. If you are to fulfill it, you'll need help."

"How did you-" I started to ask, but then he quirked an eyebrow at me and I had my answer. "Ah, that was some of that vital information the Universe decided to bestow upon you, then?" He didn't bother answering.

I didn't fully understand why Seth knowing about the prophecy irritated me so much, but I knew that I was about to give another sarcastic retort when I was cut off by an unearthly shriek.

"What was that?!" I whipped my wand out, suddenly much more aware of the pressing darkness and the fact that we wouldn't see anything coming until it was already on us. "I'm not sure…" Seth was gazing hard at something I couldn't see off in the trees somewhere. Abruptly he turned to glare at my wand, "That's not going to help you much here." I lowered my wand but I didn't put it away. "It helped against that dragon, didn't it?" I couldn't keep the touch of annoyance out of my voice.

"Helped? You merely burned it, and because of that you and your brothers got separated." I noticed a silvery tinge to his pale face now, anger. "Better separated than dead! And you could've stepped in and helped at any time, you know. It seems you were perfectly content with just watching it trying to barbeque us!" He scowled. "I was planning to help but then you figured out the light thing. Quite a shock it was too. From what I was told I figured you'd be way too dense to figure it out!"

I was angry enough to spit. I wanted to lash out. I would've hexed him right then and there if I didn't already assume it would just bounce right off him. Our argument was cut short by a second shriek, but this time something shrieked back. The answering call sounded from right behind us. We whipped around to see a bird sitting in a dead tree, large as a Hippogriff and by the looks of it, completely mummified. It didn't have a single feather on its entire body but its grey skin was shriveled and cracked. Its wings almost bat-like, complete with claws, the birds eyes were blood red and staring straight at us.

"DUCK!" Seth yelled.

"What." He grabbed my arm and yanked me onto the ground, just in time too. I felt the birds clawed foot scrap my shoulder as it flew straight over us in search of its friend. We stayed down for a minute breathing heavily. Suddenly remembering that I had been cut I examined my shoulder. The injury wasn't bad to begin with, but as I watched the wound healed itself, my skin closed and the cut disappeared, not even leaving a mark. "Whoa…"  
"Yeah," I heard Seth mumble, "You're not part of this world so any nonfatal wounds will heal fairly quick. That was part of the reason I let you three deal with the dragon on your own." He didn't sound angry, in fact embarrassed or even regretful would be accurate.

"It's fine," I said finally, "Let's just find James and Albus before they run into anything too bad." We both got to our feet and continued our trek. "As long as they know to use light as a weapon they should be safe from most of the dangers here." It seemed like he was trying to be reassuring, I gave him a small smile. "Our world is notorious for being dark and cold, for sucking the happiness out of you…"

"Like Dementors?" I asked, those cloaked, soul sucking monster would be right at home in a place like this. Seth threw me a sideways look. "Where'd you think Dementors come from? They originated in our world and then passed through the Divide to yours. Non-human creatures, especially those without souls, can make the transfer between worlds a lot easier than you can." Suddenly he threw his arm out, effectively stopping me in my tracks. "What is it?"

He didn't answer for a few seconds. "They are close. Very close. But they're not alone. Come on!" He took off at a run into the forest and I recovered from my surprise quick enough to catch up. We sprinted through thick clumps of trees, occasionally stumbling on uneven ground.

At long last, we emerged on the shores of a lake, several times larger than the one at Hogwarts. The beach was black volcanic sand, littered with gray stones. The lake itself was still as glass, perfectly reflecting the eternally midnight sky.

On the beach, surrounded on all sides by skeletons, were James and Albus, wands out, sending thin jets of light at the growing mass of undead redcoats.

I joined the battle without hesitation. I followed my brother's lead and hit a skeleton in the back with a bolt of light, he disintegrated into a pile of ash. Seth, on the other hand, didn't seem to be able to do anything. He hovered near the tree line, watching, an anxious look on his face.

I suppressed a pang of irritation. If he wasn't going to help us there was nothing we could do about it. I joined my brothers who could've been more relieved to see me.

"Took you long enough, Lily." James shouted as he blasted away a trio of skeletons. Albus remained silent, no surprise there. We continued to battle until most of the skeleton army was reduced to ashes while the rest fled into the shelter of the trees.

I turned to Seth, ready to start another argument, but I found I couldn't do it. Fighting the skeletons had drained me of every ounce of energy I had.

James said something to me but it sounded like it was coming from underwater. Distant and incoherent. I heard a thud and a small part of my brain registered I had collapsed.

My vision was blurry and a faint buzzing seemed to have filled my ears but I could just make out the sound of the others dropping to the sand, and at the tree line I spotted another figure blend out of the forest and come to stand next to Seth. Before I could get a good look my eyelids drooped and my consciousness slipped away.

…

?'s POV

I sat atop my throne and stared at the flickering flames of the fire in the brazier not 15 feet away. Though I was alone in my throne room, in the center of the fire I could see three figures. Two boys and a girl.

 _Too bad it's just a mirage._ I thought spitefully, _I'd love to see those brats burn._

"You should've let the dragon kill you." I hissed at the forms in the fire. I slowly rose from my throne and approached the fire pit. "Now you'll have to answer to me."

I continued to walk towards the pit. "I know you've had help. Don't worry I won't let that boy walk free, either." Finally I was inches from the roaring fire which was blazing higher and hotter by the minute. "You'll all burn." I imagined their shrieks of pain, their pleas for mercy, the look of fear on their faces. A malicious smile twisted my features. "I've waited two thousand years for my chance. I'm not going to let you ruin it. You'll burn and your souls will be mine for eternity."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Palace under the lake

Lily's POV

 _I was standing in a low stone tunnel. The floor was slick and slanted slightly downwards. I was in a state of semi-darkness, to my right the darkness lifted, to my left the darkness stretched, seemingly endless. Suddenly a voice drifted up from the left side of the tunnel,_

" _Come to me," It whispered. "Come…"_

 _I know its common sense that you don't follow a disembodied voice down a dark tunnel, but something was drawing me to the speaker. There was something desperate about the voice, something pitiful, something helpless._

 _I cast a last glance over my shoulder at the side of the tunnel that promised of light, and I began to descend in the opposite direction. I walked carefully, making sure my footing was secure and sliding my hand along the rough, slimy, stone wall._

 _However the further I went the steeper the climb became, the tunnel grew narrower and the air just got heavier and staler. And all the while the voice called me onward, pleading. The whisper loudened to a shout that morphed into a dozen different voices._

 _I continued along the tunnel going as fast as the tight space would allow, despite my efforts I didn't seem to be getting any closer._

 _The voices were becoming more insistent, more desperate. I recognized most of them. My father calling for help, my mother screaming, Albus and James begging to be rescued, Rose was crying, Hugo was calling my name…_

" _I'm coming!" I tried to yell but my lungs seemed reluctant to continue breathing the rancid air. I panted as I broke into a run, stumbling along the uneven ground. More than once I fell over completely, scrambling up again, trying to get to my family in time._

 _The darkness was absolute now, I couldn't see anything, and my only guide was the voices that were now loud enough to shake the entire tunnel. I slammed head long into something solid and I toppled over backwards. I ignored the blinking lights in my eyes and instead felt around for whatever I had run into. My hands hit the wall. I frantically groped around for where the tunnel continued but I felt nothing but wet rock._

 _No, no, no, no._

 _This couldn't be a dead end. My family was somewhere down here. They were still yelling, crying, and screaming. The walls still shook. I sank to my knees trying to catch my breath; the air was heavier than ever, it felt like water filling my lungs…_

" _Come to me," The first voice whispered in my ear over the din._

" _I can't. I'm trapped." I managed to choke out, however it cost me a great effort. The air felt like liquid again._

" _Come child…"_

James' POV

Lily's eyes flew open and she rolled onto her side coughing, and spitting water. "I told you, you didn't have to dump water on her twice!" Albus hissed. I shrugged, "It didn't work the first time. So I tried again." He rolled his eyes and bent down to grab one of Lily's arms. I grabbed the other and we pulled her to her feet. She was completely dry (strange), shaking, and completely disorientated. However she seemed to come mostly to her senses when her eyes landed on Seth, standing a short distance away, watching us intently. "Pleasant dreams?" Seth asked her coolly. She scowled and yanked her arms free from Albus and me. "Wonderful." She spat at him, "They were absolutely wonderful."

"You shouldn't believe the images this world sends you, they are purely to mislead you, and to scare you. And in your case mess up your priorities. Have you even looked at the prophecy since you've gotten here?" His voice was calm and conversational, he didn't seem at all fazed by the glare Lily was sending his way. A glare that had made many others retreat. I was surprised when her angry expression faded away, replaced by a kind of guilty embarrassment.

I threw Albus a bewildered look and he returned it with one of his one. We watched as Lily dug the prophecy out of her pocket and read the second line aloud to us.

"' _Find the Master of the Lost Souls, the master who disguises themselves._ '" The three of us looked at each other. Even after everything that we had seen in this world we had no idea who that could be. Simultaneously, we turned to look at Seth.

"What?" He asked in a bad imitation of incredulous. "You think I know who that's supposed to be?"

"Well, we figured." Lily said in a scathing tone, "I mean you are the bearer of all knowledge aren't you?" Seth colored angrily, opened his mouth to retort, and then closed it, changing his mind. "I may know who the prophecy is talking about…" He admitted slowly. "But I think we should get a second opinion first."

Lily's POV

Seth slowly approached the water and pulled something small, round and ivory colored out of his pocket. A pearl. I watched, confused, as he threw the pearl into the water. It seemed to dissolve and spread slowly across the surface. Then suddenly, dark, ugly shapes emerged from the depths and made their way to the shore.

The lake creatures were hideous. They were humanoid with elongated arms and legs and their skin was a grayish, blueish, greenish mixture. Their faces were wrinkled, cracked and spotted. They had huge circular mouths with rows of sharp yellow teeth, and their spider like hands ended in 6 inch claws. They were mostly bald but they had a few clumps of hair that probably fanned out like sea-weed underwater. Worst of all were their eyes. Sharp, small, and beady- like a shark's.

I gaped in horror. I turned to my brothers to see if they saw what I did. Obviously they didn't because instead of disgust they were staring at the creatures in wonder and awe. I looked at Seth, hoping for some sort of explanation. He gave me a small smile, "They're sirens." He explained.

 _Ahh,_ I thought. _Now I get it_. My idiot brothers saw beautiful maidens, while I saw gruesome corpses. I vaguely wondered which one Seth saw.

The sirens came onto the shore and formed a kind of sentry along the water line, as though they thought we were going to try to jump in.

 _After what just crawled out of there? No way._ I couldn't help but think.

Then slowly ripples appeared in the center of the lake. I watched, intrigued, as the ripples turned to waves. The waves grew bigger so that they were splashing over the sirens shoulders. Whenever this happened I caught a split second glimpse of what my brothers saw the sirens as. The water made them look like beautiful girls with long silvery hair and flawless skin. I was kind of reminded of Veelas. Ugh.

I turned my attention back to the churning lake just as a white spire arose out of the center of it. The spire was quickly followed by the top of a marble tower which in turn soon became an entire palace rising out of the lake. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Even James and Albus had stopped staring at the sirens.

I couldn't put the beauty of the place into words. The entire thing was made of pure white marble and it seemed to glow brighter than a dozen moons. There were massive gardens surrounding the main building, the plants seemed to grow right out of the water. A walk way led up the actual building, this walkway was made entirely of cloudy crystal.

"What is this place?" I finally managed to get out. The surprise and astonishment were soon replaced with a burning curiosity. This was nothing like anything else I had seen before in this world or in my own.

"It's the Palace of Innocens." Seth said lightly as he made his way up the crystallized path. "The Palace of Incents?" I asked walking fast to catch up, the boys following close behind. He gave me an amused smile as I came up beside him. "The Palace of Innocens," He corrected. "The Palace of the innocent."

"Oh?" I couldn't keep the confusion out of that one syllable.

"It's where those that died young go." He explained. I nodded in understanding. "So are young and innocent synonyms in this world?" He shrugged, "In most worlds really." He countered. I couldn't help but agree. After about ten paces spent in silence, a realization struck me.

Seth knew what this place was and how to get here, that could only mean one thing. This was where Seth went. It was strange, the notion should've came to me before, but this was the first time that I realized that Seth had lived and died. He was a spirit, trapped forever in Limbo. It was sad in a way, he seemed so alive.

However all the melancholy feelings left me as we came to the Palace's front door. It was tall and all light wood and carvings of young animals prancing around and playing. It perfectly caught the image of innocence and youth. However a small seed of dread had planted itself in my stomach, and try as I might I couldn't understand why.

…

The inside of the Palace was just as breath taking as the outside. Still coated in white marble, most of the wall space was covered in murals of smiling, playing children. The inside was large and spacious. Groups of kids shrouded in a vague halo of light ran past. You could feel the homey atmosphere. It almost buried the dread I was feeling. Almost. The dread remained as stubborn and immobile as ever.

…

"Oh I knew you would make it!" Angel exclaimed as my brothers, Seth and I entered a cavernous library. However the relief in her voice betrayed her false confidence. Even so, I sighed in relief when I saw her. She'd help us, she probably knows what we should do.

"So," She said cheerfully after she had been introduced to James and Albus, "You're the one that fell in the lake and disturbed my sirens?" Albus floundered slightly under her gaze and she gave him a warm smile. "What do you guys need?"

"The prophecy," I started as I pulled the lines out of my pocket. "We need help. We need you to tell us who the second line is referring to." Angel took the prophecy from me and read through it. I watched as her face became slightly strained.

"You came to the same conclusion I did, I assume." She said finally in a tight voice, turning to Seth. I had almost forgotten he was there.

"Yes." He said in the same tone. "I thought of Skotos."

"Yes," Angel said slowly. "Skotos. The King of Shadows."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:Decisions and Defiance

Lily's POV

I looked, confused between both Seth and Angel. Both of their faces were grave, and it almost seemed as though they had forgotten my brothers and I were there. "Who's Skoto's?" I asked. Angel slowly turned her face towards me, then she answered in a slow and measured voice, "Skotos is the guardian of the shadows. Much like I am the guardian of the Innocens. It is rumored he has the ability to shape shift. That could be what the prophecy is referring to, ' _The master who disguises themselves'_ "

"Okay..." I was failing to see why our resident ghosts were so anxious, "What's the big problem then? Can't we just go to Skotos and see what this prophecy is all about?"

Angel shook her head patiently. "Skotos isn't a spirit you can just talk to. He's a manipulative, and deceitful soul."

"Remember that dream you had? Who ever was talking to you was most likely Skotos, he'd love to get you down to his realm, he'd think it a great trick." Seth cut in suddenly. I remembered the voice I had heard in my dream, it had sounded so helpless and pitiful. Could that really be Skotos? This so called King of Shadows? It didn't make sense, but nothing seemed to make too much sense here.

"Well what's so bad about going to see him; just to see what he knows?" I asked, still not seeing what the problem really was. Again Angel shook her head with an infuriating air of someone who knew something you didn't, "It is highly unlikely that Skotos would let you leave once he has you."

"But why?" I demanded. Why were they just dangling all this over my head, wouldn't it be easier to just tell me what they wanted me to know? "Don't you understand the kind of power you have?" Angel asked, the question would sound incredulous if she didn't say everything in the misty voice of hers. I was strongly reminded of a certain Divination teacher at Hogwarts.

"Yes. I do." I said firmly, they already treated me like an ignorant toddler, I didn't need them to know how little I truly understood my power.

Her tone could be as misty as she pleased, but her expression showed her doubt when she asked her next question. "You do understand the gift you possess? You truly see why it is so significant to someone like Skotos?"

"Yes." I answered again. There was a few minutes of silence in which Angel studied me closely, then she turned to the piece of parchment the prophecy was written on.

I watched as Angel read over the prophecy again. "I'm not sure this prophecy truly needs to be acted on." She said finally. Startled I looked at the others, they were all shocked as well, especially Seth. "What do you mean they shouldn't act on the prophecy. No one's ever ignored one before."

"Well this prophecy doesn't seem very serious, usually one will warn you about what will come if you don't do something, but this one doesn't." Angel seemed hesitant as she said all this.

"They don't always warn against bad things, it's just common knowledge." Seth countered. "Or perhaps just assumptions. All I'm saying," Angel said, her voice significantly firmer, "Is just that I don't see what could be gained from completing the prophecy. Is it really worth putting their lives at risk?" Seth looked like he was considering her point. Finally he nodded, "I'm just not sure it's wise for them to ignore such a direct prophecy like this one, I mean it showed itself to her." Angel nodded. "A lot about this prophecy is unusual," She agreed softly, "But I think this is the best course of action. Seth you should take them back to the Arch, there you can wait for the doorway to open and they can return home."

Seth nodded and he began to usher my brother and I out of the room, just as the door was closing I heard Angel call after me, "I expect I'll see you again soon enough." Maybe it was the sudden lack of mistiness in her voice, but the remark struck me as odd.  
But I brushed it off and I followed Seth and the others back out of the palace, back across the walkway and the sirens, we were just at the tree line when I turned around to watch the entire radiant palace sink right back into the lake, the sirens dived back into it's pitch black depths, and the entire thing was still again.

"You coming?" Seth asked, materializing out of the forest at my side, "Yeah." I said, shaking myself out of my reverie. "I'm right behind you."

As we walked I couldn't help the heavy disappointed feeling that settled on my chest, and it seemed to intensify with every step.

I couldn't believe after all this we were just giving up, going home, it baffled me. Seth was right this prophecy was unusual, I've never heard of one just appearing to someone, a Seer gave a prophecy, they didn't just write themselves out of thin air. This prophecy was special, I could feel it, and yet here I was letting myself walk away from it all like a coward.

Decision made, I wasn't going down that easy. Suddenly I stopped. Noticing the sound of footsteps had ceased behind them, the boys turned around. "Is something wrong?" Albus asked. A bitter laugh escaped me, "Everything's wrong." I exclaimed loudly. "What do you mean?" James asked, confusion clear on his face.

"We're really just gonna walk away? We're really just gonna leave and not follow this prophecy? Seth do you think this is right?" Seth hesitated for a second, "Angel thinks this is what we should do." His voice was stiff but set.

"I didn't ask what Angel thought, I asked what you thought." Seth hesitated again, then after a quick glance around he took a step closer to me, his voice low and anxious as he said, "Listen, I'll admit I don't think this is right. But Angel's never been wrong before-"

"There's a first time for everything." I cut in, "And you said it yourself, no one's every ignored a prophecy."

"There's a first time for everything." He responded coolly. He turned on his heel and he started walking again, but he stopped dead when I called out to him. "You're not even a little curious why this prophecy is so different, you don't want to figure out what this is all about."

"Curiosity killed the cat." He said simply, still keeping his back to me. "Satisfaction brought him back." I shot back finishing the phrase. "I'm not satisfied, I want to know what's going on, and why something sent me to fix it."

Seth finally turned around, shaking his head. He looked to my brothers for support but found none. I could tell from their expressions they were leaning towards my side.

"Lily's right." James said slowly. "Ignoring this prophecy could lead to something bad in both of our worlds. Especially if this Skotos guy is as bad as you say he is." Albus agreed. "We can't just run away." He said with a conviction I wasn't used to hearing in his voice.

I couldn't help but smile, my brothers were always there for me when it really mattered.

Seth shook his head. "So what do you guys want to do? What's your plan if you're gonna go along with this prophecy?"

"We talk to Skotos." I said simply. "And you're gonna take us to him." He rolled his eyes, but after glancing around again as though he expected Angel to jump out of a bush and catch him defying her, he nodded and sighed. "I really don't have a choice here, do I?"

After smiling at my brothers we all nodded. Seth sighed again, but he smiled slightly as he lead us in the opposite direction, towards the center of the forest.

The further we walked, and the closer we got to the realm of Skotos, the darkness seemed to get thicker. The shadows grew more and more restless, the trees got larger and closer together, there wasn't any hint of a breeze but the branches of the trees above swayed ominously, and there always seemed to be some sort of creature prowling in the darkness just out of my range of vision. Even Seth who always gave off a faint glow seemed slightly diminished in this part of the forest.

Finally we came to a very small clearing, where a rough cave cropped out of the ground. I noticed the cave seemed to end in a cramped, and twisting tunnel.

"This is as far as I can take you. I'm not permitted to enter Skotos' realm without permission."Seth muttered with a voice heavy with uncertainty. I just nodded, though I'll admit I wished he could follow us, his presence was comforting.

"I still think he's trying to trick you." Seth said quietly, his expression was anxious, and I realized he was as worried about us going in there alone as I was.

"Well," I said, putting on the most reassuring face I could. "He's gonna have to try a lot harder than those dreams then, isn't he?" Seth gave me a weak smile.

"Ready?" I asked my brothers, I just wanted this done as quickly as possible. They looked nervous but I knew they were serious when they said they were ready.

I lead my brothers into the tunnel single file. Despite my unease I meant what I said to Seth. I didn't plan on walking right into Skotos' hand. I was no fool, and I wasn't about to let him underestimate my brothers and I. We were Potters after all, we had a certain knack for trouble, and Skotos was severely mistaken if he expected us to give in without a fight.

It was these thoughts that kept me going as the darkness got heavier, the air colder, and the tunnel deeper and deeper. That and the confidence that, unlike in my dream, I wasn't alone.

 **Okay so I know this AN might be boring a cheesy but it needs to be said. This story has been on hiatus for a few months and honestly I had almost no intention of continuing it. But yesterday I got a new story follower and I realized that there were still people reading and enjoying this story even though it's been so long since I updated it and it was just what I needed to inspire me to continue so I want to give a special thanks to SilverAshes13 for inspiring me to keep this story going.**

 **-Mockingjay**


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